Improvement in swings



@fg/'fm N. PETERS, PNOTO-LITI'IOGRAPHERy WASHiNGTON. D C.

k @thu 5mm mi @zum i (time w GJERGEA. SEAVER,'OF NEW YORK, N. Y.

Letters. Patent No. 82,998, datedOctobe/r 1 3, 1868.

IIWPROVEMENT IN SWING-S.

To all whom 'it 'may concern.: v

Re it known that l, Gnonen A. SEM'ER, of New York, in the county andState of New York, have invented a certain new and useful Improvementinf enee marked thereon.

llbe object of my invention is to enable the sitter in an ordina-ryswing, with a single seat for the reception ot' one person, tooperatethe swing without assistance. ,'lo a `eomplish this object, thesaid invention consists of an additional rope or pair of ropes attachedto the upper part of the frame, slightly in advance of the points ofsuspension of the swing, and communicating with the sus]enson-ropes, bymeans of sliding sockets, at points eonvenient for the hands of theperson swinging. v

'lo enable others skilled in the/arts to which it appertains to make anduse my invention, l will proceed to 'describe its eonstrueton andopera-tion with reference to the drawing.

lhe swing-seat a is hung on a pair of suspensionrods or ropes, b,attached to the cross-piece of an upright frame in the usual manner. I

lhe pr peiling-ropes c are attached to a-n eye-bolt, rl, on theeross-pieee, slightly in advance of the bolts to which the swing ishung,and they are secured by eyes, or otherwise, io cylindrical sockets, e,that slide loosely on the suspeiision-ropes I), which pass through themat a point convenient for the graspot'a person in meupation of the seat.

ln beginning without assista-nee, the person who wishes to swing, pusheshimself and the seat backward, and, when at the extent of the vibration,pulls downward on the handles or sockets e, which causes the returnportion of the vibration to be made more l'oreibly than would have beendone by the force of marit-,rv alone, from the points of suspension, bythe addition of the mnsenlar power applied at the more eilietive angleof the prolveiling-ropes. v

The greater the distance at whi'eh the. propellingropes are hung inadvance of the points of suspension, the more :ulvantageous will be theangle atv which the force ol' muscular energy will be exert-ed toincrease the return vibration due to gravity, and this distance shouldbe that which willfurnish a rise and fall of the sockets on thesuspension-ropes Within the convenient reach of the arms of the personfor Whose use the swing may bc chiefly intended.

,In the same manner, the force of the vibration may be increased at eachreturn to the extreme point of the backward vibration, until the limithas been reached, the handles or sockets being forced down on thesuspensionropcs in the forward swing or portion of the'vibration, andbeing permitted to slip up on the ropes as the seat swings back.

This propelling-attachment may be used to stop the swing more quicklythan can ordinarily be done, by using it in the reverse Way, or bearingdown upon the handles as the seat swings backward.

The enlarged size ofthe handles obviatc's one objection to a rope orrodthat may be large enough to answer all the requirements of strength, andbe too small to admit of a comfortable grasp.

The exercise of the arms, and the muscles calledA into play by theirexertion, is a'valuable-addtion to the pleasure and beneiit that may beobtained from an ordinary swing.

The propelling-ropes also'serve an important purpese, in the nature of asafeguard, in addition to their primary office of enabling the occupantto swing hirnself, for, in the event of a breakage of thesuspensionropes, or an accident to the hooks or eyes, by which theperson would otherwise have been necessarily flung with more or lessolence to the ground, the grasp upon the propelling-ropes'would serve atleast to-break the force of the fall, even if the hold upon the handleswere not sufficiently rrn and the strength of the propelling-ropessuciently great to entirely obviateit.

The handles may be made in halves, so that they may be readily appliedto any ordinary swine.

l claim as my iuventionhe combination of the propelling-rope or ropeswith the movable handles or sliding sockets substantially as described.

G. A. SEAVER.

Vitnesscs: .e M. RICHARD 'l'.m'ERsoN7 WM. KEMBLE HALL.

